ORANGE, Calif., November 30, 2016. With just over 30 days left in the year, the American College of Medical Scribe Specialists is reminding eligible clinicians that time is running out in 2016 to attest for meaningful use to avoid payment reductions. Those not in compliance with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) meaningful use guidelines may receive payment reductions at 2% for performance year 2016.

Under the proposed rule for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and its Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), eligible providers are required to attest for meaningful use one 90-day period during calendar year 2016.

ACMSS can help eligible clinicians meet CMS requirements by providing its Physician/Practice pathway, which allows practices to self-certify their staffs, attesting to meaningful use. The Individual Pathway also allows professionals who work in clinical settings and medical scribes to attest and become certified. Under CMS guidelines for meaningful use, those providing medical scribe services must be credentialed and certified.

“ACMSS programs are designed to streamline the process for certifying medical scribes, making it easier for providers to get their scribes certified, and providing greater value for their employees,” says ACMSS Executive Director Kristin Hagen.

The following are three ACMSS certification pathways that are particularly beneficial to providers/practices, organizations that train medical scribes, and individuals:

Physician/Practice Pathway: Physicians and practices may self-certify their staffs. ACMSS provides specialty certifications to all in General certifications, in addition to presenting specialty certifications in vascular medicine, dermatology, primary care, internal medicine and emergency medicine. ACMSS serves as a resource to physicians/mid-levels, through enablement of fully credentialed professionals, adhering to federal regulations and guidance. Clinicians and practices are enabled through eligible staff and purchasing minimum Volume Certification Packages.

CMSS-Direct Certified Clinical Corporate Partners: Through our new Clinical Corporate Partner Program, eligible outpatient corporations may qualify to become clinical attested corporate partners. The annual corporate membership allows clinical corporate partners to directly attest eligible scribes through CMSS 1-Step affidavit, enabling a direct qualifier to certify scribes via the Medical Scribe Certification & Aptitude Test (MSCAT), bypassing requisite 2-step “CMSA” 200 hours. Standardized volume bundles institute innovative practice procedures and provide minimum standardized educational materials for each. To become a corporate partner and participate in the this pathway, a company must attest in an affidavit that its education programs meet all of the core objectives and curriculum content requirements, and submit the curriculum to the ACMSS board for approval.

Individual Pathway: Those who work in clinical settings as medical scribes may sign an affidavit attesting that they have completed a minimum of 200 hours of unassisted clinician workload documentation, and then complete the Medical Scribe Certification Aptitude Test (MSCAT) administered through ACMSS. Certified Medical Assistants, Registered Medical Assistants, Licensed Practical Nurses, Registered Nurses, and Paramedics already with clinical hours, certified or licensed, may sit for the MSCAT with 50 hours unassisted physician-clinician documentation.

Along with the Physician/Practice Corporate Partner and Individual Pathways, ACMSS also provides certification pathways for academic institutions and scribe training companies, and a Retooling Pathway for individuals who need to advance their clinical skill sets.

The ACMSS certification program meets current and proposed CMS certification requirements toward meaningful use of electronic health records. ACMSS works in compliance with CMS to meet national goals and initiatives of meaningful use (MIPS and Alternative Payment Models). Certified medical scribes also meet the “qualified people” standard in Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT).

All personnel certifying with ACMSS need to purchase a minimum Standardized Volume Scribe Certification Package, preparing both the individual and the practice for real-time resource and assistance, ongoing and into the future. Bundles include: Annual Membership, MSCAT Training/Resource Manual, HIPAA for Scribes Training/Operational video/certificate, and Medical Scribe Certification & Aptitude Test (MSCAT) Certification. Upon successful pass, each certified scribe is given a certificate and eligible credential, in which Practice Administrators/Clinicians retain for Meaningful Use attestations and customize and innovate workflow.

“The benefits of employing Certified Medical Scribe Specialists go far beyond meeting CMS guidelines and avoiding penalties,” says Hagen. “Certified scribes have been shown to help alleviate some of the current dissatisfaction and frustration among providers over EHR technology. They also assist practices and clinicians in real time, onsite, at the point of care, facilitating innovative workflow and efficiencies, and providing necessary tools and resources for beginning new revolutions in redefining healthcare together and creating patient-centric care.”

Please contact ACMSS directly at 657-888-2158, or info@theacmss.org to learn more about the benefits of the CMSS credential, or if you have questions regarding the ACMSS program and/or materials. Also, please visit our website at theacmss.org.

About ACMSS

The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists (ACMSS) is the nation’s only nonprofit professional society representing more than 18,000 Medical Scribes in over 1,800 medical institutions. ACMSS partners with academic institutions, non-profit partners, and medical scribe corporations to offer both education-to-certification and employment-to-certification pathways. ACMSS advances the needs of the medical scribe industry through certification, public advocacy, secure innovative systems design, individualized and customized consulting, and continuing education for improved care coordination and patient-centric care toward wellness. ACMSS is available for public speaking engagements serving healthcare.

ACMSS is proud to co-sponsor this partner-driven awareness week that focuses on bringing attention to the value, opportunities and challenges of healthcare information in the U.S. healthcare system. National Health IT Week (September 26 through 30), is sponsored by the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and they are joined by dozens of professional organizations, societies, and associations around the nation.

National Health IT Week helps drive awareness of the tools that are helping to build our patient-centric healthcare system. We particularly appreciate two areas of special focus for this year’s NHIT Week: innovation through precision medicine, and making communities healthy through interoperability across the spectrum of care to link public/population health and human services.”

ACMSS is dedicated to an evolving, innovative healthcare system that is focused on precision medicine, prevention, wellness and disease reversal. We provide the “people side” of the health IT equation to CEHRT, advancing the Certified Medical Scribe Specialist (CMSS) industry. ACMSS provides minimum Standardized MSCAT “CMSS” Certification Packages, assisting healthcare in real time innovation and development. We are available to help the industry, clinical providers and academic institutions with the latest research, implementations, education, and consulting. ACMSS is a proud non-profit partner with HIMSS.

To learn more about events and organizations associated with NHIT Week, go to http://www.healthitweek.org/
Please contact ACMSS directly at info@theacmss.org or 657-888-2158 if you have any questions regarding the ACMSS program and/or materials. Vendors and Sponsors welcome.

The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) Medical Scribe Specialist Education Review Board (MSSRB) seeks feedback, with open comment period, up to September 30, 2016. The MSSRB is in the process of revising Appendix B Curriculum in the Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Medical Scribe Specialist (Standards). The Standards were initially adopted in 2015 by CAAHEP, MSSRB, and American College of Medical Scribe Specialists (ACMSS).

The Standards are the minimum standards of quality used in accrediting programs that prepare individuals to enter the Medical Scribe Specialist profession. Standards are the minimum requirements to which an accredited program is held accountable.

ORANGE, Calif., June 29, 2016. The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists (ACMSS) applauds the introduction of a bill in the U.S. Senate to create a pilot study in Veteran’s Administration hospitals to determine whether using Certified Medical Scribes to assist physicians will help shorten the VA’s notoriously long wait times and ease other patient service problems.

The purpose of Senate Bill 3035, introduced by Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), is to “…require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to increase the use of medical scribes to maximize the efficiency of physicians at medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs.” The proponents hope that the use of medical scribes in the program will reduce the amount of time physicians spend on daily documentation so that they may increase the number of patients physicians can see and the amount of time physicians are spending with each patient. Patient satisfaction and physician satisfaction and retention issues will also be measured.

“If this bill is approved and the program goes forward, employing Certified Medical Scribes to assist physicians at the VA will undoubtedly improve efficiencies and have the positive effect the bill proponents desire, and more,” said ACMSS Executive Director Kristin Hagen. “However, in approving the language, ACMSS urges the Senate to insist that only Certified Medical Scribe Specialists (CMSS) be used in the program. Medical scribes provide real-time documentation and increase practice efficiencies in a great number of areas outside of clinical documentation, but they must be certified.”

ACMSS is an independent certifying organization and works in compliance with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to meet national goals and initiatives of Meaningful Use of electronic health records, Merit-Based Payment Incentive System (MIPS) and Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). Only Certified Medical Scribe Specialists meet current CMS requirements for Meaningful Use of electronic entry up to full scope of the credential, from basic EMR entry to a myriad of advanced clinical workflow improvement tasks, that include up to CPOE. Certified medical scribes also meet the “qualified people” standard in Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT) and assist with the design and infrastructure to support ongoing transformative care and change.

As a healthcare professional who suffered debilitating injuries from a first-generation airbag accident, and through 19 years of ongoing research to later work with her healthcare provider to create a wellness plan to bring her back to full recovery, Hagen knows the value of having a physician with the time available to provide meaningful, one-on-one care. Through two decades of trying to recover from her injuries in a healthcare system that was based on volume rather than value to patients, Hagen can relate to the frustrations being expressed recently by patients in the VA system.

“Employing appropriately credentialed and Certified Medical Scribe Specialists (CMSS), in regulatory compliance with CMS, is the best way that care providers can ensure they get back the time and attention they need to join the evolution of the outpatient healthcare industry into a patient-centered, integrative system that focuses on prevention, disease reversal and wellness,” Hagen said.

The ACMSS certification program meets current and proposed CMS certification requirements toward use of EHRs through its Medical Scribe Certification & Aptitude Test (MSCAT). In addition to the overall certification exam, ACMSS provides specialty certifications in vascular medicine, dermatology, oncology, primary care, internal medicine, emergency medicine and general patient care, enabling access to all across the specialities. ACMSS enables same-day certification for practices to meet Meaningful Use attestations and offers ongoing webinars to assist prospective individuals with key information about ACMSS, regulations, and innovations to meet healthcare goals through Volume Certification Packages.

Please contact ACMSS directly at info@theacmss.org or 657-888-2158 if you have any questions regarding the ACMSS program and/or materials.

About ACMSS

The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists is the nation’s only nonprofit professional society representing more than 17,000 Medical Scribes in over 1,700 medical institutions. ACMSS partners with academic institutions, non-profit partners, and medical scribe corporations to offer both education-to-certification and employment-to-certification pathways. ACMSS advances the needs of the medical scribe industry through certification, public advocacy, and continuing education. To learn more about ACMSS, please visit: theacmss.org

ANAHEIM, Calif., March 16, 2016. The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists (ACMSS) offers physicians and pratices across healthcare and medical specialities a certification program that helps meet national goals, meet federal requirements for meaningful use of electronic health records, and innovate together toward wellness.

It is not good enough to just employ people to do the work—they must be certified and credentialed through clinical hours and a psychometric evaluation and attestation process. Outpatient facilities are employing medical scribes to meet meaningful use requirements in electronic health records, but not all of these scribes are certified, which means their work may not qualify toward meaningful use.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires that any staff members who will be entering electronic information, including Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) information for medication, laboratory and radiology orders and documentation must attest for meaningful use through certified and credentialed personnel. Eligible professionals who do not successfully demonstrate meaningful use are subject to provider payment reductions increasing annually from CMS. Our nation is working to become electronic for the patient, in addition to meeting wellness and preventive care goals, those in which ACMSS will assist providers working collaboratively to meet goals collectively.

The ACMSS certification program meets CMS certification requirements toward meaningful use of EHRs through its Medical Scribe Certification & Aptitude Test (MSCAT). ACMSS works in compliance with CMS to meet national goals and initiatives of Meaningful Use, Merit-Based Payment Incentive System (MIPS) and Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).

Together we are building integrative systems, like Integrative medicine, which is the future of health care, delivering high-technology clinical care that is customized to each patient for individual wellness. Integrative medicine systems focus on the whole person, ensuring the individual remains healthy. Programs of MIPS and MACRA allow the current traditional healthcare system and providers to focus on their much-needed goals today in independent practices of working to assist patients in disease reversal and prevention toward wellness. ACMSS partners with practices across America to unite and meet innovative goals together through skilled and highly specialized Certified Medical Scribe Specialists (CMSS) and Certified Medical Scribe Apprentices (CMSA).

In order to take the ACMSS certification and credentialing exam, eligible medical scribes must sign an affidavit attesting that they have completed a minimum of 200 hours of unassisted clinician workload documentation for the highest credential, Certified Medical Scribe Specialists (CMSS) meeting meaningful use program and personnel use. Those who have not completed minimum hours may still certify as Certified Medical Scribe Apprentice (CMSA) until set hours are met toward becoming an eligible CMSS. To pass the exam, scribes must score 80 percent or higher on the aptitude test. ACMSS provides specialty certifications across the specialities in general patient care, ophthalmology, vascular medicine, dermatology, primary care, internal medicine, and emergency medicine.

One of the ways for eligible providers to achieve electronic medical record adoption and demonstrate meaningful use in the outpatient setting, and avoid increasing payment adjustments from CMS, is through the use of Certified Medical Scribe Specialists. In addition to providing real-time documentation benefits, certified medical scribes increase practice efficiencies in several areas, including billing, patient record organization, workflow efficiencies, clinical care coordination and innovation, insurance and patient care both inside and outside of the exam room.

ACMSS serves as a resource and solves complex healthcare needs together for its partners, practices, allied associations, and across healthcare. Non-Profit Partners can receive a discount based on volume of registrants, with a minimum volume purchase of 5 or greater. You must also be an ACMSS member in order to participate. Please contact ACMSS directly for more information at: info@theacmss.org or 657-888-2158 if you have any questions regarding the ACMSS program and/or materials.

About ACMSS

The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists is the nation’s only nonprofit professional society representing more than 15,000 Medical Scribes in over 1,500 medical institutions. ACMSS partners with academic institutions and medical scribe corporations to offer both education-to-certification and employment-to-certification pathways. ACMSS advances the needs of the medical scribe industry through certification, public advocacy, and continuing education. ACMSS is also available for speaking engagements. To learn more about ACMSS, please visit: www.theacmss.org

Anaheim, CA, March 7, 2016 — The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists (ACMSS) is an essential partner for providers and will meet the needs through continuing education and working to advance the industry together with certified personnel.

The Future: Integrative Medicine

Integrative Medicine is the future of medicine. It’s high-technology clinical care that is customized to each patient for individual wellness. Integrative Medicine systems focus on the whole person in wellness, ensuring individual remains healthy. It also meets national goals and initiatives of MIPS (Merit-Based Payment Incentive System) and MACRA (Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act). These integrative systems for prevention and disease reversal for patient care most heavily impacts Family Practice, Primary Care, and Urgent Care.

Third Party Licensed Accreditation

ACMSS is independent from all scribe companies and organizations and works in compliance with CMS to meet MU, MIPS, and MACRA for providers and patients and clients alike.

Certification is sought on a voluntary basis and complies with all Federal laws and regulations. Certified Medical Scribes (CMS) certified with ACMSS are should not to be confused with those who are non-certified, or unlicensed, to enter electronic health record data.

The Medical Scribe Specialist is in final preparation to begin accepting applications for the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Program (CAAHEP) who accredits over 200 academic programs.

Preventative Wellness and Outcomes

ACMSS is focused on preventive wellness and outcomes. Practices for Certified Medical Scribes Electronic Health Records (EHR) Meaningful Use Program need to be certifying all personnel in utilization of EHR initiatives for patient safety, improved outcomes, and sustainable wellness for our people.

Eligible Providers Benefits

Eligible Providers use Certified Scribes to innovate workflows. Certified Scribes work under the licensed Physician and Clinician in which Practice Administrators oversee. ACMSS serves as a resource and solves complex healthcare needs for its partners.

Certified Scribes elevate the nation to reach its goals, including Electronic Health Records, Personal Health Records, and Telehealth/Telemedicine. Certified Scribes enable efficiencies, newer care models, direct doctor-patient time, and allow team to focus on meeting regulatory requirements and documentation compliance in innovation. Providers need innovative models such as Complementary Alternative Medicine to meet their goals utilizing a Certified Scribe. Additionally, EMR vendors should be assisting with preventive CAM developments for documentation purposes to allow flexibility in time and documentation of patients to meet goals together.

“Scribes help providers who are not comfortable/efficient with EMRs, as well as free up time so the providers can focus on patient care and their family. This reduces frustration, stress, and burnout. Not only can scribes boost provider productivity, they have been associated with improved cost savings, time savings, and patient satisfaction,” explains University of Texas’ John Higgins, M.D.

MIPS and MACRA allow the current traditional healthcare system and providers to focus on their much-needed goals today in independent practices of working to assist patients in disease reversal and prevention toward wellness.

Partnering with ACMSS

Partnering and including ACMSS for the benefit of healthcare, patients/clients, and systems design buildout to wellness/prevention.

ACMSS advocates for all to work collaboratively with ACMSS to reach EMR/EHR innovations and improvements needed, lacking today. To build a 21st century healthcare system requires numerous refinements in the investment to meet the required outcomes. High technology systems are not built overnight and these are the first iterations. ACMSS is a non-profit partner of HIMSS and together with clinical medical group associations, and wellness partners, we can do much to improve the US Healthcare System. ACMSS offers Non-Profit Partnerships.

About ACMSS

The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists is the nation’s only nonprofit professional society representing more than 15,000 Medical Scribes in over 1,500 medical institutions. ACMSS partners with academic institutions and medical scribe corporations to offer both education-to-certification and employment-to-certification pathways. ACMSS advances the needs of the medical scribe industry through certification, public advocacy, and continuing education. ACMSS is also available for speaking engagements. To learn more about ACMSS, please visit: www.theacmss.org

Any staff members who will be entering electronic data, including Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) information for Medication, Laboratory and Radiology Orders attesting for meaningful use must be certified and credentialed. Certified Medical Scribe Specialists (CMSS) qualify towards meeting the CPOE measure for EHR adoption with CMS.

ACMSS is passionate about improving clinical care and clinical documentation in an effort to revamp the country’s wellness. ACMSS advocates and develops innovative, flexible options in Electronic Medical Record (EMR) for improved wellness systems. ACMSS’ customized packages meet your needs. From non-profit partnerships and vendors to physician practices and schools.

Together we protect our American Healthcare system. We are moving our nation into paradigm models that exist today of Integrative Health for Wellness, Disease Reversal and Disease Prevention, improving population health throughout our country.

About ACMSS

The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists is the nation’s only nonprofit professional society representing more than 15,000 Medical Scribes in over 1,500 medical institutions. ACMSS partners with academic institutions and medical scribe corporations to offer both education-to-certification and employment-to-certification pathways. ACMSS advances the needs of the medical scribe industry through certification, public advocacy, and continuing education. ACMSS is also available for speaking engagements. To learn more about ACMSS, please visit: www.theacmss.org

Nathan Copp, 24, recently came to the Piedmont Fayette Hospital’s ER complaining that he felt tired, short of breath and lightheaded.

Copp, who has the inflammatory bowel ailment known as Crohn’s disease, also told Dr. Robin Lowman, an emergency room physician, that he’d been having some chills.

As Lowman examined him, she dictated her observations to Shalane Thomas, who sat in a corner of the exam room and typed the doctor’s words into a laptop. Thomas’ screen also displayed Copp’s basic medical information.

Later, the physician reviewed Thomas’ notes for this and other patient visits.

Thomas, 30, is a “medical scribe,” a member of an occupation that’s growing but still relatively little known. More hospitals and physicians’ offices are using scribes to enter medical data for them, as demand for the digitization of health records accelerates.

The federal stimulus bill of 2009 gave hospitals and doctors’ offices incentives to use electronic health records. In addition, payment contracts based on medical quality require more documentation, and a new medical coding system has recently been installed nationwide.

Thomas, 30, who has been at the Fayetteville hospital for four years, works for ScribeAmerica, one of the leading national scribe companies.

The Fort Lauderdale-based company supplies scribes to 1,200 medical sites across the country, including 700 emergency departments, says its co-founder, Dr. Michael Murphy, who himself worked as a scribe while in college in California. They’re hired in a range of health care settings.

The average age of scribes at ScribeAmerica is 23, and two-thirds are female, Murphy said. The pay is roughly $12 to $20 per hour. Scribes don’t require state licensure.

Murphy said many scribes are taking the path he followed, working toward degrees in the medical field.
Studies suggest that scribes improve physicians’ productivity.

Using scribes allows physicians and other provider to see more patients, Murphy says. “It really helps with the physician shortage.”

With the push for electronic health records, Murphy said, Scribe America has added more customers. “It’s been a wild ride over the last few years,’’ he said. Georgia is a “huge market for us.”

A great help to physicians

Piedmont Healthcare has employed 25 scribes currently at its Fayette hospital ER, and also has hired them at its flagship Atlanta facility and in its Newnan hospital, as well as at outpatient sites.

Dr. Kevin Cleary, medical director for the Piedmont Fayette Hospital emergency department, said the unit has used scribes for several years. “I can’t imagine a day without them at my side,’’ he said. “The scribes not only do a great job at documentation, but provide me the opportunity to give patients more attention during my time at the bedside.”

Sometimes scribes go beyond taking down information. “They provide comfort for patients at times by getting warm blankets, and assisting patients at the bedside when no one is available. The scribes have become an extra set of eyes, ears and hands that not only assist the physicians but provide that extra service that patients need and deserve,” Cleary said.

Lowman said that at first, some physicians pushed back against the idea of using scribes, feeling reluctant to put something as important as medical data into other hands.

“Our chart [on a patient] is basically our Bible,’’ she said, summing up the common attitude of doctors. But she said she values scribes because they allow her to spend less time on the computer doing clerical work.

Dr. Jack Chapman

Dr. Jack Chapman
Thomas, the scribe, said she got into this line of work to gain experience in the medical field. She said she may eventually apply for physician assistant school.

Dr. Jack Chapman, a Gainesville ophthalmologist, has used a scribe for more than 15 years. Perhaps not surprisingly for an eye doctor, he prefers to be looking at a patient rather than constantly glancing at documentation.

“I wanted to have eye contact with the patient,” Chapman said. “Facial expressions are part of the exam.”
“It’s been very efficient,’’ he said. With a scribe and an electronic medical record, “I’m putting data [on file] in real time.”

Chapman also said he can share medical information with other providers more easily. “I find the patients like it,” he added.

And he acknowledged that he’s like many other doctors: Typing is not his strong suit.

American College of Medical Scribe Specialists (ACMSS)Inquiries: info@theacmss.org; (657) 888-2158.

Visit the CMS Website to Review New FAQs on Participation in EHR Incentive Programs

On October 6, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released thefinal rule with comment for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. To keep you informed of changes to the programs and how to participate in 2015, CMS has also released three new FAQs providing clarification on how to attest to certain measures for health information exchange, patient electronic access, and other objectives that require patient action.

FAQ 12817Question: For the Health Information Exchange objective for meaningful use in 2015 through 2017, may an eligible professional (EP), eligible hospital or critical access hospital (CAH) count a transition of care or referral in its numerator for the measure if they electronically create and send a summary of care document using their CEHRT to a third party organization that plays a role in determining the next provider of care and ultimately delivers the summary of care document?

Answer: Yes. An EP, eligible hospital or CAH may count transmissions in this measure’s numerator when a third party organization is involved so long as:

The summary of care document is created using certified EHR technology (CEHRT);

The summary of care document is transmitted electronically by the EP, eligible hospital or CAH to the third party organization…Read the full FAQ

FAQ 12821 Question: If multiple eligible professionals or eligible hospitals contribute information to a shared portal or to a patient’s online personal health record (PHR), how is it counted for meaningful use when the patient accesses the information on the portal or PHR?

This answer is relevant to the following meaningful use objectives: Patient Specific Education and Patient Electronic Access measure 2.

Answer: If an eligible professional sees a patient during the EHR reporting period, the eligible professional may count the patient in the numerator for this measure if the patient (or an authorized representative) views online, downloads, or transmits to a third party any of the health information from the shared portal or online PHR. The same would apply for an eligible hospital or CAH if a patient is discharged during the EHR reporting period. If patient-specific education resources are provided electronically, it may be counted in the numerator for any provider within the group sharing the CEHRT who has contributed information to the patient’s record if that provider has the patient in their denominator for the EHR reporting period. The respective eligible professional, eligible hospital, or CAH must have contributed at least some of the information identified in the Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program – Stage 3 and Modifications to Meaningful Use in 2015 Through 2017 final rule (80 FR 62807 through 62809) to the shared portal or online PHR for the patient. However, the respective provider need not have contributed the particular information that was viewed, downloaded, or transmitted by the patient. …Read the full FAQ.

FAQ 12825 Question: In calculating the meaningful use objectives requiring patient action, if a patient sends a message or accesses his/her health information made available by their eligible professional (EP), can the other EPs in the practice get credit for the patient’s action in meeting the objectives?

If a patient sends a secure message about a clinical or health related subject to the group practice of their EP, that patient can be counted in the numerator of the Secure Electronic Messaging measure for any of the EPs at the group practice who use the same certified electronic health records technology (CEHRT) that saw and patient during their EHR reporting period.

Similarly, if a patient views, downloads or transmits to a third party the health information that was made available online by their EP, that patient can be counted in the numerator of the 2nd Patient Electronic Access measure for any of the EPs in that group practice who use the same CEHRT and saw that patient during their EHR reporting period.

If patient-specific education resources are provided electronically, it may be counted in the numerator for any provider within the group sharing the CEHRT who has contributed information to the patient’s record if that provider has the patient in their denominator for the EHR reporting period. …Read the full FAQ.

For more information on accurately calculating the numerator for measures, please visit FAQ 8231.

Any staff members that will be entering Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) information for Medication, Laboratory and Radiology Orders to attest for meaningful use must be certified or credentialed.

ASOA members receive an additional discount based on volume of registrants, with minimum volume purchase of 5 or greater. You must also be an ACMSS member in order to participate. Membership is $20 and entitles you to 3 attempts to pass the exam.

Certified Medical Scribe Specialists (CMSS) are a key solution to creating an interoperable and robust electronic healthcare system. These tech-savvy professionals are the minimum baseline needed to enable “real time” throughput of point of care decision making and treatment for physicians and patients alike. On the incentivized path of EHR utilization and meaningful use, the personnel pathway to achieve national goals has grown momentum step-by-step in presence, utilization, standards, and education.

The United States healthcare system cannot achieve meaningful use on technology alone. It is imperative these skilled people, Certified Medical Scribe Specialists, pave the way in this new day and allow key US investment and goals to be reached. It is vital the baseline is set for anyone working in this electronic health record era to be certified and credentialed, protecting, accessing, and entering information into our electronic medical records.

ACMSS national certification of medical scribes standardizes the industry, sets appropriate benchmarks into place, and ensures privacy, security, and protection to healthcare records, under the auspices of licensed clinicians. Standards are imperative, connected to national initiatives, keeping Certified Medical Scribe Specialists (CMSS) abreast with latest technology and education ongoing – a commitment of any CMSS. In order for a high-technology, robust, inter-connected and interoperable electronic health record system to occur, the implementation and usage of the people, medical scribes, are paramount to 21st century innovations, system design, and meaningful clinical documentation. Clinician workflow must be preserved, allowing physicians to focus on the patient, while enabling the conduit of real-time electronic medical record systems.

Medical scribes are the necessity piece needed in the US Healthcare System. ACMSS ensures the gold-standard towards achieving meaningful use, quality measures, increased adoption, and mutually enabling supportive feedback toward electronic medical record systems that will evolve with high technology design and style. It is imperative the right people are aligned at the right time at the right place with the right technology to intricately evolve and progress to meaningful and usable clinician encounters, research, and data outcomes.

Medical Scribes are being certified toward meeting MU in the Outpatient setting – CMS FAQ 9058. ACMSS is a sponsoring organization of the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). The Certified Medical Scribe Specialist (CMSS) is a highly trained individual who specializes in job duties and functions similar to other ancillary roles.

Learn the ins and outs of medical scribes. Physician extenders are key to solving healthcare problems and engaging a “real-time” documentation system for effective health information exchange. Medical Scribes are highly trained personnel, capturing efficiencies, and re-engaging the physician back to the bedside. Become certified today as a Certified Medical Scribe Specialist (CMSS). Email: info@theacmss.org; Website:

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome to the American College of Medical Scribe Specialists, a non-profit 501(c)6. Since 2010 ACMSS has represented the medical scribe industry through certification, advocacy and employment. The ACMSS certifies medical scribes who meet its education, professional standing, and examination standards.

We are a membership association, offering both academic-to-certification and employment-to-certification conduit.